We Like to Watch You Laughing
by SpanishSahara
Summary: The end of Barney and Quinn's relationship. Barney takes it hard. Warning: self harm, mental disorders, and other triggering content. Read at own risk.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the beginning of a multi chapter fic. I plan to get much darker in the story. Rated M for future chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of any characters in this story nor do I claim ownership of the show How I Met Your Mother. All characters belong to the creators, producers, and others involved in the show. This is fiction. :)**

The gang sat at their booth swapping stories of their day. The bar was crowded for a Tuesday, with scores of college girls flitting around the establishment.

"So this girl actually didn't know the difference between a colonial and federalist house!" Ted exclaimed, sipping his beer in disbelief. Everyone around him rolled their eyes. A song by Bob Dylan played softly in the background, his crooning of changing times barely heard by the raucous group.

"A toothpaste company is dumping thousands of gallons of toxic material into Oklahoma waterways a week. It's insane! We're getting on them right away, and I get to lead the charge! I get to make charts and everything," Marshall explained enthusiastically.

"Wow that's great Marshall. Way to clean up the earth," Robin congratulated. She extended her arm across the table for a fist bump.

"What happened to you today Robin at your crazy new anchor job?" Lily asked.

"Well, this magician came to visit and brought a female contortionist along. She was so flexible, she fit in this tiny little box," Robin said excitedly. However, Lily was too busy looking at the blonde man at the head of the table to care.

"Barney what's wrong?" She asked. Barney had been unusually quiet throughout the whole conversation. He perked up.

"Nothing, why would you say that?" He asked, fumbling over his words.

"Robin just mentioned both a magician and a contortionist and you didn't tell us how awesome magic is or make some pervy comment about the lady," she accused. Everyone was suddenly interested in the slight man. Ted rested his head on his hand, Marshall followed by not so subtly scooting forward in his seat. Barney smiled sheepishly.

"Just a rough day I guess," he said, downing the rest of his scotch and soda and rubbing at his ears nervously.

"What happened?" Ted asked.

A loud ring cut through the room. Lily retrieved her phone from her purse and looked at the message. Her mouth dropped.

"What Lily?" Robin asked, frightened that her friend had received terrible news perhaps about the death of a loved one or an illness in her family. Lily composed herself.

"It's Quinn," she began. Barney rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, well have her come join us. Maybe she'll pay for dinner," Marshall suggested. Lily shook her head slowly.

"Uh...I don't think she'll be wanting to join us, look at the text she just sent me," the red head held out the phone for everyone to see. It said:

Quinn: Wedding is off. Spread the word to Robin. Return your bridesmaid's dresses.

The group drew in a collective breath before Ted broke the silence.

"Why did you dump her Barney?" He asked quietly. Lily jumped in.

"Yeah, why?" She began. "You actually convinced me that you had changed," her voice started rising. Robin shrank in her seat, feeling the embarrassment radiate off of Barney. "I can't believe you fooled me. You're not changed. You're the same selfish, commitment- phobe, slutty Barney," she was yelling now. "This wonderful girl comes along and loves you despite all your flaws, and you have many, and you dump her! Just know that you just royally screwed up your life Barney!" She finished, downing the remnants of her beer. Barney pursed his lips.

"Lily," he started. "Um...Quinn dumped me," he stated, his voice becoming shaky. He cleared his throat and stood up, swinging his arms into his jacket. "So I really gotta go," he said, excusing himself.

"Oh my god Barney, I'm so sorry. I," Lily was cut off by the blonde man.

"It's okay. I'm just gonna go now," he said, smiling self-consciously.


	2. Chapter 2

Barney managed to hold it together long enough to take a taxi to his apartment. As soon as he went through the door, he burst into sobs. He even went as far as to turn the stormtrooper around so he wouldn't have to watch.

Of course he was planning to tell his friends about Quinn dumping him, of course. He just hoped maybe there would have been a nicer way of doing it rather than her bluntly texting them to save a few bucks. He fell onto the couch and buried his face in a pillow. He couldn't help feeling like that was his last chance at happiness, a normal life. He felt himself falling, falling into the dark depths of the pillow.

Like a zombie, he pulled himself off the leather sofa and walked into the bathroom. The bright lighting bounced off the white tile and highlighted his aging body. The red puffiness in his eyes coupled with the deepening of his wrinkles made him look old and tired. He stared back into the blue eyes of this stranger. Who had he become?

He used to live for the conquest, never settle down, and now he was crying over some chick? No way, this isn't Barney Stinson, he thought. But he couldn't shake the feeling that his life was slipping away. You're not meant to settle down, he tried to convince himself, but he was losing the battle. You want Robin, that's who you want.

"But she'll never love me," he said aloud, contradicting his own thoughts. The words hung in the bathroom, changing shape and shades of grey, slipping through Barney's ears and out through his fingertips. Instinctively, he reached for a drawer, pulling out a razor blade he used for chipping the paint off of the molding when it needed repainting. He pressed it to his forearm, stopping before breaking skin.

You can't do this to yourself bro, remember what happened last time? He thought. He shuddered thinking about his teenage years. No matter how much he glorified it for his friend's benefit, his childhood was really a sad story of a nerdy unlikeable boy with a whore mother and a missing father. The only person who was able to pull him out of that spiral was Shannon, and she hadn't been around for an eternity. He was an entirely different person now. Could he be helped this time? Was he too far gone? Every fiber of his being screamed for him to put it down, take a long hot shower, and go to bed, but his fingers pushed harder on the metal.

"Damn it Stinson," he said through gritted teeth as he pulled the razor across his arm. The world crashed around him, skies burning, dogs barking, but at the same time, flowers bloomed, people sang. He felt human again. The warm sensation of blood oozing up and filling the chasm followed by a sharp stinging pain greeted him. Dark blood dripped onto the stark white tiles. He started on another patch of skin, itching for the relief.

His floor was speckled with dots of him. His arm was in shreds. He worried he had cut too deep in places, but he was too tired to bandage his scratches. A cold ringing sound jolted him out of his stupor. He grabbed at his cellphone with his good arm.

"Hello?" He greeted.

"Hey, I just wanted to say how sorry I am that I jumped to conclusions earlier tonight...," it was Lily.

"Oh no, don't mention it. It's fine," He replied.

"No, it was wrong, and I want to make it right. Come over to our apartment, Ted and Robin are coming too. Marshall and I bought beer, and we rented "Return of the Jedi". We might even let you look at our sex tape," she teased.

"You DO have a sex tape!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"No, but I thought it would get you over here. Now come over Barney," she demanded, hanging up.

Barney wasn't dumb, he knew this was a pity party. They wanted him to forget about Quinn, but it would be a long time until he could. He ultimately decided to go because, hey, free beer!

He bandaged his arm tightly and put on a long sleeve shirt underneath his regular white dress shirt. It had been a long time since he had dealt with hiding scars. He grabbed his tan coat and rushed off to Marshall and Lily's apartment.

When he got there, everyone was eating chips and salsa. Marshall jogged over and gave him a tight squeeze.

"I love you buddy," he said. Barney rolled his eyes.

"Did I ever mention how great your hair has been looking this past week?" Ted complimented. Barney nearly threw up.

Finally, everyone settled down on the couch, watching Star Wars on the television. Barney looked around and smiled. Marshall was sitting with Lily's head in his lap, stroking her hair. She was slowly falling asleep. Ted sat close to the baby monitor, doubly listening for Marvin and watching the movie. His arm was draped over the back of the couch. Robin was curled up at the end of the couch, bored with the movie but struggling to stay awake for the rest of the group.

The world felt wonderfully small, like nothing else existed besides his best friends. He reached over to rub Robin's back. She stirred a bit and took his hand in thankfulness.

"Barney, your hand's sticky, what have you been doing?" She held it more firmly. Barney started to panic. He thought his bandage would have sufficed, but maybe he missed a spot? Maybe it came undone? He tried to pull away, but she was already staring at his hand. Ted turned on a light, and the room gasped. Small trickles of blood had dried on his hand.

"Robin... it's nothing, nothing, I got attacked by a dog," he said hurriedly, yanking his arm away and standing up to get his suit jacket. Ted took him by surprise and pulled up his sleeve, revealing the blood soaked bandages.

"Barney," he began, "what's wrong?" Barney felt pressure building up behind his eyes, but he couldn't let himself cry, not in front of his friends, not in front of Robin. He pulled on his coat quickly and ran to the door.

"I uh...I'll see you later guys," he said before slamming the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Ted, Marshall, Lily, and Robin sat in the apartment quietly.

" Anyone seen Barney?" Marshall asked absentmindedly. They all sat as if in a trance. He knew the answer already. Of course no one had seen him.

"What should we do?" Ted asked helplessly. Lily shook her head slowly.

"Nothing, it's his life. He's an adult, it's not our job to clean up his messes," Robin said harshly, standing up suddenly and pacing around the room.

"Robin Sherbatsky, how dare you speak that way!" Lily screeched. She stormed over to the taller woman and stared up at her. "He is one of your best friends, don't act like you're not a little bit concerned for him!" She said scathingly.

"I'm going on the roof," Robin replied coldly.

"Maybe he really did get attacked by a dog," Marshall suggested. Lily just glared at him. "Or, I'll, uh, go check his office and see if he's there," Marshall backtracked. Lily nodded. Ted followed Robin up onto the roof.

Robin leaned against the wall, slowly smoking a cigarette and staring up at the night sky. Her hands were visibly shaking in the cold January air.

"Isn't it a little cold to be up here? I feel like i'm going to freeze," Ted offered, trying to lighten the mood. Robin shot him a glare, effectively cutting him off. "Can I bum one?" He asked halfheartedly, giving up on his attempt at cheeriness. Robin handed him the box of Marlboros.

"I just don't know...why," Robin began quietly.

"Well his fiance just dumped him," Ted explained, balancing the cigarette between his two front teeth and rubbing his hands together to keep warm. Robin sighed.

"Yeah Ted," she said pointedly, "I get that part. I just don't know why he's resorted to this ya know?" Ted nodded. It was a little odd. "I mean, why didn't he just go fuck some whores like he normally does?" Ted shook his head.

"You really should go talk to him," Ted suggested. Robin's eyes widened.

"What? Why me?! You're his best friend!" She shrieked.

"Calm down! Robin, you know how much you mean to Barney. It's not that hard to see," Ted explained. Robin sputtered.

"B- but no he doesn't feel that way anymore. Not since, not...," she trailed off remembering when she chose him over Kevin a year ago. She never understood how he was able to put that behind them.

"Robin, he loves you. That's never going away," Ted continued, silently noting that that statement also applied to himself.

"But you're so much better at this stuff than I am Ted. I can't deal with this type of stuff," she said, exasperated. She ground her teeth for a moment before continuing. "What if he tells me he loves me? What if he acts like nothing ever happened? What if he's having sex with someone and I just walk in?" She paused for a moment. "What if he cries Ted? I don't know what to do if that happens? I can't handle crying Ted," She said wildly, gripping Ted's shoulders Ted patted her back.

"You'll be fine Robin, let's go see if Marshall found him," Ted replied, walking down the stairs into his apartment. He walked into a conversation between Marshall and Lily on the phone.

"Really, they said he's there..Are you going there? Why didn't we check there first...yeah I can ask Robin to watch Marvin...No, why would we need that?" She looked up. "Oh, Robin and Ted are here, I'll talk to them," she put the phone on speaker. "Marshall said Barney's secretary said he's at home. Someone brought his paperwork there for him today. Didn't we check there this morning?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't there," Ted answered.

"Anyways, Marshall's going there now, and I'm going with him. Robin, could you watch Marvin for us?" She asked, automatically assuming that Ted would be going with them. Robin picked up the phone.

"Marshall, you can come back to the apartment. I'm going to go talk to him," she spoke into the receiver. Ted smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Finally a new chapter. This chapter may seem like the end, but alas it is not. **

**Disclaimer: I do not hold the rights to the characters. Characters belong to the creators and everyone else involved in How I Met Your Mother. **

Robin named the players on the Canucks in the taxi to keep her mind off of Barney. If she acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, maybe if she preoccupied her mind, she wouldn't worry about what she was going to say to him.

_Zack Kassian_, she counted, _Andrew Gordon,_

_What if I make it worse?_

_Daniel Sedin,_

_How could I ever help him?_

_Andrew Alberts,_

_He's going to cry._

_Alexander Edler,_

_I'll just end up yelling at him._

_Keith Ballard, Robert Luongo,_

_I have to talk to him. He's my friend._

_Cory Schneider, Dan Hamhuis, Cam Barker_, she counted quicker as the voice inside her head began to scream what could go wrong. _Jason Garrison, Derek Roy, Steven Pinizzotto..._

"That'll be $32.75," she heard a gruff voice say, breaking her methodical chanting inside her head. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She smiled and reached into her purse to find the money.

Suddenly she found herself standing outside of Barney's apartment building, wishing more than anything to melt into the sidewalk. People of all sorts rushed past her, busied with their own problems, ignorant of the woman dreading taking just a few steps forward. The sky opened up, along with a flurry of umbrellas. Thorny points poked at her as people moved out of her way. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted an unusually bright yellow umbrella disappear around a corner. The small flash of sun on an otherwise grey day pushed her forward.

She took the stairs to give her more time. She gritted her teeth, pushing her legs through the agony of walking up so many flights. She was doing this for Barney, the man who helped her through so many hard times, the man who made her laugh, the man who loved her. Finally, she reached his floor, swinging open the heavy concrete door and marching to his door.

It opened just before her hand landed upon its exterior, startling her enough to make her jump. Barney emerged, equally surprised at her appearance. His eyes grew wide, and he subconsciously tugged down on the arm of his coat.

"Oh...hey Robin, what are you doing here?" He laughed nervously, standing in the doorway, blocking the interior of his dark apartment. Robin's mouth grew dry. Her stomach filled with bubbles, popping painfully against the walls of her abdomen. She just stared at the man, taking in the endless dark circles under his eyes, the deepness of the lines on his face, and the deflated way in which he held his posture. He shifted uncomfortably in her gaze. "Listen, I really gotta get somewhere so..." he trailed off, trying to hurry her along. Robin made a grunting noise, trying to force words up her throat and failing. He sensed her purpose and sighed. "Everything's fine okay? It was a one time thing," he said flippantly, trying to get her off his back. She grimaced at his tone, and he double backed.

"Barney..." she started. He took her shoulders.

"Look, I've never told anyone this, but I've dealt with this before, when I was a teenager. I know how to deal with it. Don't worry about me," he said reassuringly. "I gotta go visit my mom, wanna split a cab? I think her house is halfway to your apartment," he said, quickly changing the subject. She smiled.

They sat quietly in the back of a dirty taxi. Barney read messages on his phone from work, something about an international crisis of some sort. His brow furrowed as he typed furiously with his perfectly manicured fingers.

Robin thought back to what Barney said about dealing with the issue before when he was a kid. She thought back to her own teenage years as a carefree teen pop star and others' lives. She was riding around with the windows down in her friend's cars while Barney was at home. He was really smart, and he went to Yale, so he must have been a good student. She frowned a little picturing a little Barney cooped up in his room doing homework while she hung out in malls with Tiffany.

She would never admit it, but she was glad Barney was so in control of himself. He saved her from having to struggle through a heart to heart. Barney winced as she grabbed his arm to rest her head on his shoulder, her nails dug painfully into the healing cuts.


	5. Chapter 5

"I just don't know what to do," Ted trailed off, taking a swig from his beer and staring dejectedly at the bowl of peanuts in the center of the table in Maclaren's bar. Marshall smiled sympathetically.

"It'll all be okay buddy. You'll find somebody. You're a young successful architect, who wouldn't want you?" He said reassuringly. Ted nodded. The voice in Marshall's head piped up, telling him that, whatever he did, he must not tell Ted that it's the day they're supposed to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. All it would do is make Ted reflect on how much his life hasn't turned out the way he wanted it to, he argued with himself. Another little voice, this one perhaps wearing devil horns, whispered that it was a tradition. It was wrong of Ted to forget about it. Sensible Marshall responded, telling devil Marshall he was an idiot, and then apologizing because of the rudeness of that comment. The fighting got too much for real life Marshall who burst out suddenly with a "Knock it off you guys!" Startling everybody in the bar. Ted eyed him wildly.

"Woah, what was that Marshall?" He asked, looking around for the cause of the outburst. Marshall shrugged and leaned on his hand to seem casual. He didn't want Ted to catch on to what he had been thinking. He must seem as normal and as not weird as possible. He must pick a random thing to talk about.

"So...I saw a shooting star wars, STAR I SAID STAR, last night. First time I've ever seen one," he said, attempting nonchalance. Ted raised an eyebrow.

"No, actually i've never seen one either, but there was an architect around the time of Galileo who saw a shooting star and drew inspiration for one of his greatest buildings, however his downfall was in the area used for the desigsgblah blah blah blah blah," Ted seemed to say, softly lulling Marshall to sleep. His eyelids grew heavy, and Ted's gibberish dissolved into a mantra. His face transformed into a stormtrooper helmet and a slow chant of star wars star wars star wars spilled from his mouthpiece. Marshall felt himself drooling on his hand, falling into a brief sleep.

"TED TODAY IS TRILOGY DAY. IT'S TRILOGY TIME!" He burst out of his slumber, stunned and confused. As he became aware of his surroundings, he registered what he said. Ted seemed startled but unfazed.

"Woah, how could I forget about that? I'll call Barney! He's gotta let us watch it on his giant TV," he said, pulling out his phone and calling him. He picked up on the second ring.

"Go for Barney!"

"Hey Barney! I can't believe I forgot about this, but it's trilogy time! Marshall and I will bring popcorn, but we're watching it on your TV," he said excitedly. There was a pause in the conversation, and Ted listened to the other man breathe shallowly on the other end.

"Uh, my apartment is kind of messy right now, can we do it at your place?" He asked hopefully. Ted laughed.

"I've never seen your apartment messy, I'm curious. Besides, bros don't care if each other's places are messy. We're just watching Star Wars. We'll be over in ten, bye," he said, finishing his beer and setting out with Marshall to Barney's place.

Marshall was worried that when they inevitably said where they were going to be the future, Ted would break down. Barney of course would have some outlandish fantasy that he didn't really believe would come true, and Marshall would imagine himself teaching Marvin how to play basketball.

They arrived at the door with two bags of Smart Food and a six pack of Red Bull. Barney

came to the door in a wrinkled suit and untamed hair. Marshall stared in astonishment. Barney was all about appearance, so it was odd to see his hair a little longer, curlier, wilder. Barney rubbed his hands together.

"Please excuse my appearance. You caught me at a bad time, I did my best," he said, escorting them into the room. There was stuff everywhere. Barney's usually immaculately cleaned living room was full of papers and photographs and clothing strewn about carelessly.

"Doing some spring cleaning?" Ted asked innocently. Barney mumbled confirmation.

Halfway through Empire Strikes Back, the predictions began. Marshall of course, predicted that he would be older, teaching his son how to play basketball and maybe welcoming another child into the world. Ted went next. He sighed and stared at the carpet.

"I don't know where I'll be," he began. "I set these goals for myself. I say that I'll have my life together with a wife and child, but I don't think I will. I just keep getting older and older," he said stoically. Marshall was surprised. Ted was taking it better than expected. Marshall smiled. Barney cleared his throat.

"I uh, I think i'll be basically the same as I am now. I don't really see anything changing," he said somewhat gloomily. Marshall pursed his lips. This was not typical Barney. Barney normally said everything would stay the same, but he was normally ecstatic about it. He loved his life. He didn't want it to change. This time he seemed just like Ted, but more bitter.

The movie started again, and Marshall received a call from work. He excused himself to the bathroom to not disturb the film. He listened to the voicemail, something about the intern losing all the files, and left a message back. He groaned as a headache started to form behind his eyes. He opened Barney's medicine cabinet, hoping to find some aspirin, but he did not see a bottle of aspirin. He stared in shock at the cabinet. There were razor blades, clearly used, roughly, laying on one of the shelves. Then there were bottles, dozens of pill bottles. Most of the medicine Marshall didn't recognize, but a few he found familiar, medicine for anxiety, depression, and a type of personality disorder.

He clumsily knocked over all the bottles, sending them crashing to the floor in a massive explosion of tiny white capsules. Barney immediately knocked on the door.

"Marshall are you ok?" He didn't answer. "Marshall I'm coming in," he said warningly, opening the door and stopping in his tracks. He looked down despondently at the scattered pills. Marshall stood in the middle of the bathroom, guilt radiating off of him. Ted came up behind him.

"Woah, what's all this stuff?" He asked. Barney pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So, you guys should go now. I have a lot of work to do," he said robotically. Marshall, happy for the escape, grabbed Ted and headed out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Woo finally an update. Sorry it's short. I feel like this is where it should cut off. **

Marshall ran up the steps to his apartment to tell Lily what happened. He swung open the door and skidded on the wet floor as he zoomed around the place, looking for his wife.

"Lily!" He called, hoping she would appear. A disgruntled Lily stepped out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. She spit into a cup.

"What Marshall?" She groaned. He grabbed her shoulders.

"Barney, there's pills and stuff at his house. There's something really wrong with him," he said quickly, losing his composure. She gestured for him to sit down on their couch.

"Honey, are you sure there was something at Barney's house?" She asked. "Because last time you thought you saw something at Barney's house it turned out to be the shadow of a coat rack on the wall," she said knowingly. Marshall scowled.

"Hey, I swear it looked just like the Loch Ness monster!" He countered. "But yes, i'm sure. I accidentally knocked everything onto the ground," he said, staring down at the floor. She rubbed his back soothingly.

"Tell me what you saw baby," she asked quietly. Marshall began.

"Well first he was all unkempt. His place was a mess, and his hair has started to grow out. It's all curly and not gelled back. Then, when we were saying where we would be in life the next time we watched the trilogy, he sounded just like Ted, bitter about how he won't get anywhere in life. Finally, I went in his bathroom to take a call, and I saw all these bottles for all these problems," he finished, breathing hard from the memory of it all. Lily's brows knitted tightly. She chewed on her lip and brushed Marshall's back quickly.

"I'll go talk to him," she decided, standing up. Marshall raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, right now?" he asked, bewildered.

"I care about him. I want to make sure he's okay. I can't let him destroy himself," she grabbed her purse, stepping out the door.

She dug around in her bag, searching for her spare key, finding it at the bottom next to a pack of old gum. She smirked as she spotted the playboy bunny keychain, typical Barney.

Quietly unlocking the door, Lily tiptoed in the man's apartment, taking in the chaos. Mostly papers stuck to every surface. Some photos of the gang lie here or there. She tried to get a look at what they said but couldn't make sense of most of it. A tattered old shoebox caught her eye.

She squatted to examine its contents, brushing aside a decade of dust. There were a couple certificates of achievement in it. Barney was valedictorian at his high school apparently, and he also won a state science fair. A picture showed Barney with a group of boys at MIT. Lily smiled, she never knew Barney was smart like this. He never showed his intellectual side. Another picture was a class picture from grade school. She giggled. A chubby little Stinson stood in the front row, shorter than the rest of his class. Blue eyes stared out from coke bottle glasses while a halo of curly blonde hair stuck out off his head. She set the box aside and set back to her original purpose, finding Barney.

He wasn't in the kitchen or the living room, and although she did not want to see where he took his conquests, she checked his room. The bed was made and untouched. However, a light spilt out from in the bathroom, suggesting a patron. She walked over to it, the sound of sobbing growing louder as she did so. Her knuckles rapped the door three times, no answer. The sobbing choked off inside. She slowly pushed it open, making it creak under her hand. Barney sat in the tub filled with water, knees drawn up to his chin. Marshall was right, his hair had grown longer, becoming more like it was when he was a boy. He looked over at Lily, eyes red, willing her to go away but too cowardly to reject her help. She moved to his side.

"Oh Barney," she began, brushing his hair as he buried his face in his knees. He hugged his knees, drawing attention to the dark purple bruises on his knuckles and split skin. She dipped a finger into the water, feeling the frigid temperature of it. It was then she noticed that he was shivering. "Sweetie, come out of the water, you're freezing," she pleaded, but he shook his head no. Blood dripped from skin into the water, deepening its already rosy color. Her eyes avoided the cuts along his arms and legs, locking on his eyes. Despite his condition, she swore she saw love in those pools of blue.

Barney's core temperature dropped, increasing his shivering. Lily tried to coax him into getting out of the water. So many times she had wondered what he would look like naked, what was it about him that enticed so many women, but now that he was, she couldn't look at him. She studied his face, seeing the red in his eyes and tears on his cheeks. It dawned on her.

"Robin," she said. Barney looked up at her, blinking a couple times.

"Yes," he replied.


End file.
